The Democratic National Convention was a California love fest.

There were glimpses of natural beauty in abundance, Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar on the soundtrack, and more Californians onstage than you'd find at a Saturday morning farmers market in Pasadena.

For four days, speaker after speaker extolled the virtues of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Oakland-born, Berkeley-raised former state attorney general and senator who is now her party's leading presidential candidate.

One person is conspicuously missing from this happy procession: Gavin Newsom.

The Democratic governor made a brief cameo by delivering his state's delegates to the vice president in a ceremonial vote to endorse Harris as the party's presidential nominee. (The crucial vote took place two weeks ago, in a five-day online vote that took place shortly after President Biden dropped out of the race.)

That was everything to Newsom.

Tournament planners had wanted the governor to open primetime programming on Monday night, but he declined. He said he couldn't make it in time. His kids were starting a new school year, he explained, but it's not hard to imagine him dropping them off at the United Center, less than 12 miles from Chicago's Midway Airport.

Also conspicuously absent was California Sen.-elect Adam B. Schiff, who, along with Mr. Newsom, is one of the most politically prominent California lawmakers outside of Ms. Harris and Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Schiff was also invited to speak but was unable to attend the convention due to a long-standing family commitment.

One difference, of course, is that Schiff has never had the same strained relationship with Harris that Newsom has.

It's hardly a secret that the governor would have loved to be in Harris's shoes. All week, he wore a strained smile of runner-up disappointment — the kind you see at the Oscars after a Best Actor nominee flashback, right before the winner takes the stage.

Newsom campaigned to some degree for the presidency, but not really. He traveled the country touting his political vision and taking on Republican state politicians like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom Newsom debated on Fox News. He ran TV ads and put up billboards promoting himself as a champion of abortion rights. And he fervently defended Biden, when few others could or would after Biden's terrible debate performance.

All in vain, except for speculation about who Newsom was. Really to.

The governor and vice president are products of San Francisco's freewheeling political culture and have campaigned side by side for more than two decades, sharing many donors and geographic bases and even led the same campaign strategy team at one time.

Newsom told The Times' Taryn Luna that talk of sibling rivalry between the two highly competitive and ambitious political aspirants was a “silly myth.”

But it's true.

Like brothers, the two have a history of happy times, hard feelings, jealousy, and mutual support.

People familiar with the two said Mr. Newsom was not distressed to see Ms. Harris stumble early on as vice president, nor was he too upset to see Mr. Newsom being forced to fight a recall attempt, although he did come to California to hold a final rally for Mr. Newsom.

Both are political professionals.

Newsom said all the right things during media interviews in Chicago.

“You'll see me endorsed by Harris many times throughout the campaign,” the governor told Fox News.

“I look forward to Kamala Harris being re-elected in 2028,” Trump told NBC, denying any interest in running for president in the future. “I want to be able to walk without a cane by 2032.”

So it was interesting to hear Newsom, in an interview published the day after Democrats concluded their caucus in Chicago, sarcastically referencing the “30-minute” convention that selected Harris as the Democratic nominee.

“We went through a very open process, a very inclusive process,” he joked on the “Pod Save America” ​​podcast. “It was bottom-up. I don't know if you guys know that, but I was told to say that!”

Was Governor Newsom letting slip what he really thought about Harris's sudden ascension to the top of the Democratic field, or was he just playing it easy while hanging out with his podcast buddies?

The Newsom-Harris race is over — at least for now — and it's clear who won.

If Harris is elected in November, the checkmated governor's political ambitions will almost certainly be put on hold for at least the next four years. If she loses, it's not hard to imagine Newsom running as one of many candidates to challenge President Trump, vowing to rebuild and revive a decimated Democratic Party.

In the meantime, he has a day job: running the most populous, diverse and unwieldy state in the Union.